Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 872 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 2.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,248 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 872 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $29,778,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $721,202,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the second quarter valued at $536,916,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 4.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,627,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,853,714,000 after buying an additional 238,895 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 46.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 443,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $422,529,000 after buying an additional 140,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the third quarter valued at $63,913,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of GWW opened at $1,056.47 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $893.99 and a twelve month high of $1,139.15. The stock has a market cap of $50.24 billion, a PE ratio of 29.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $1,002.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $991.90.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $10.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 49.40%. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.87 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 39.000-39.750 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $2.26 per share. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 25.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GWW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $1,016.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 14,523 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.81, for a total value of $14,128,119.63. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 107,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,929,232.22. This trade represents a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total value of $199,666.35. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,249,953.82. This represents a 5.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,881 shares of company stock worth $26,157,155. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc (NYSE: GWW) is an industrial supply distributor founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company supplies maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services to businesses, institutions and government customers. Over its long history Grainger has developed a broad product assortment and a national distribution network that supports operations across a range of end markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and public sector organizations.

Grainger’s product portfolio spans core categories such as electrical and lighting, safety and personal protective equipment, material handling, motors and power transmission, plumbing and HVAC, fasteners and adhesives, hand and power tools, and janitorial and facility supplies.